The needs of the many
by Aonitha
Summary: Ronon and Sheppard decide a little rest and relaxation is in order, unfortunately they end up getting the exact opposite. Ronon Whump, some Shep Whump too. Emotional Angst abounds amongst bonding and friendship. Please R R as my first chapter fic.
1. Chapter 1

Seeing Ronon's boyish grin flash back at him, he broke into his own wide smile and sped up after him. Knowing Ronon's long legs would undoubtedly get him to the summit first, he nevertheless ran his fastest. He gulped in mouthfuls of cold fresh air and exhilarated in the simple fun of the chase.

By the time Ronon reached the crest of the hill he couldn't even see Sheppard any more, but after a few deep breaths he could see a head of dark messy hair streaking it's way through the trees. A feigned look of annoyance covered Sheppard's face as he saw that he'd been beaten. Slowing down as he reached the top the of the hill, he turned around and folded his arms, an air of superiority crossing his dark features. Sheppard slowed down his stride only to speed up at the last minute and without warning flung himself at Ronon's midriff, tackling him to the floor. For an instant, Ronon's body stiffened out of reflex but he quickly swiped away the feeling of 'fight back!' his mind was trying to control his body with.

'Oof! Get off me!' he laughed rolling away to the side, but it was too late. Sheppard had taken advantage of Ronon's surprise and had scrambled up, only to stand on the summit proper.

'Looks like I won' he said looking down smugly on Ronon.

'You cheated!' spluttered Ronon, standing up on the grass.

'No, I took the tactical advantage' Sheppard's little smirk had it's desired effect on Ronon, and suitably goaded, he started forward to get his revenge. Though visibly relaxed, a small sound of a twig snapping reached his ears from down the hill. He ignored it, assuming a local animal had made the noise. Turning back to Sheppard, he growled playfully and jumped up to meet him. It was a surprise, then, when the unmistakable sound of people moving through trees came from behind him.

'I thought Rodney said this planet was uninhabited' Ronon muttered in Sheppard's direction as they both froze.

'It is...was' replied Sheppard quietly, his body tensing automatically for a fight.

Within seconds, they were both back to back on the top of the hill, Sheppard had his bowie knife in hand, and Ronon had picked out two of his short knives from his selection. They swung around in a circle as one but quickly realised they were completely surrounded by a large circle of armed men, the dark barrels of their rifles glinting in the pleasant sun.

'Please gentlemen, lets not do anything stupid now shall we?' came a deep voice from behind the rank of gun handling soldiers. This man was obviously the leader, and he strode forward with purpose, almost a spring in his step.

As he reached a safe distance he stood there and smiled. Looking at his face closely, you could see the smile didn't reach his eyes. The gentle wrinkles in his face and puffed out cheeks showed his middle age but nothing about him was distinct except a vivid white scar cutting vertically through his top lip and up his cheek.

'John Sheppard, Ronon Dex, put your weapons on the ground, away from you please' his tone indicating that this was the most sensible course of action.

'I don't think we've had the pleasure, you are...?' Questioned Sheppard, secretly surprised that this unknown man knew their names.

'It is only right that you know the name of the man who, 'brought you down' shall we say? It is Rashnan. High Inquisitor Rashnan...to my friends' He laughed a little then, obviously pleased at his own little joke. Sheppard took one more look around in the vain hope of seeing an escape route or way to get out, but there wasn't one.

'Boy, ain't that a fancy title' Ronon knew that Sheppard was stalling for time with this petty talk, but couldn't quite see what he was stalling for. _Must be habit_ he surmised.

'It certainly is' agreed Rashnan.'Now, your weapons?' he asked, his tone hardening.

'Ok' agreed Sheppard, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly. Ronon quirked his eyebrow at Sheppard but nevertheless put his knives on the ground and kicked them away just a second after Sheppard did the same, he knew he had more if he needed them.

'get on your knees' came Rashnan's next order. They both complied, knowing they were hopelessly outnumbered. As their wrists were grabbed from behind and tied firmly with rope they looked up into the infuriatingly pleased face of their captor.

'Search them for hidden weapons. Everywhere' he ordered his men. 'Oh, and don't forget the larger gentlemen's hair' after a few minutes of patting them down, a small pile of assorted knives littered the floor.

'You brought all those on a vacation?' Sheppard asked Ronon, even though he wasn't really surprised.

'You never know' stated Ronon simply, feeling deep unease. They had managed to find all his knives. Even the one concealed in the sole of his right boot.

'Silence please friends, you are being quite anti-social' Rashnan frowned at them, as though they were at a dinner party and had been caught using the wrong fork for the starter.

'Take out the chips' he ordered next.

'What?' Sheppard exclaimed, at a loss that these people seemed to know more about them then they knew about their captors. Strong arms gripped them from behind, pushed their arms sideways, exposing the soft flesh of left upper arms. Two soldiers appeared in front of them armed with knives and after feeling for the small bump that gave away the location of the trackers, cut open a small incision. Trying to pull away, they gritted their teeth as, one after the other, fingers probed inside the wounds and pulled out tiny blood smeared objects. Their leader accepted the two offerings and swiftly dropped them to the floor and ground them with the toe of his boot.

'There, that should mean we aren't disturbed any time soon' he smiled maliciously.

'Who are you, what do you want from us?' growled Ronon.

'All in good time my friends, all in good time.' He waved some more of his men over to the team-mates, who were subsequently blindfolded.

'Goodnight' chuckled the voice of Rashnan, as a sharp pain was felt in both their necks. A fiery warmth crept through from the point of contact. By the time they realised they'd been injected with something, their worlds collapsed into darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

Stifling a yawn, Rodney McKay closed the current program he'd been running. He was sure there was better things to be doing with his time than searching the ancient database for agricultural information, but even he had to agree that trading off-world and having certain items come all the way from the milky way galaxy for food was time consuming. Rodney grimaced at the thought of the tinned 'bacon' from earth and one locally sourced egg he had been served at breakfast. Maybe if he cross-referenced another search term with the Ancient word for agriculture, he could narrow the search algorithm and come up with something a little easier to look through than the hundreds of thousands of results that had arrived on his report this morning. Re-focusing his eyes on the display, small red flashing letters on the bottom left of the screen caught his attention.

'2 OWTC now offline' _OWTC...OWTC... now what was that again? _He was well aware that he wasn't at his best in the mornings, staying up late dealing with a failed heating system in one of the sleeping quarters didn't help, but he was sure the words behind the acronym were in his head somewhere. _OW, obviously Off-World... T...Tracing..Tracing Chips! Yes! That was it!_ He smiled, that even with his sleep deprived mind he'd remembered one of the the hundreds of shortened names of new equipment.

'Offline...mmm...' His smile loosened. Tracing chips, offline.

'That is not good' He muttered. Rodney could maybe understand one going down, maybe it malfunctioned for some reason, but two? Too much of a coincidence. The tiny devices had been engineered by him, all team members who went on missions off-world had them implanted now as a matter of security. After the prototype, he'd had no issues with any of the devices failing before. His face dropped, his mouth hanging open in realisation as he knew for a fact which two chips they would be. He tapped slowly onto the flashing text, and read:

_2 OWTC Offline – receiving no signal_

_**56432 -- Sheppard.J -- No signal, cannot locate device**_

_**849561 -- Dex.R -- No signal, cannot locate device**_

_Would you like to run error diagnostic? Y/N_

All feelings of residual sleep left his mind as he realised his friends had obviously gotten themselves into trouble, _again_. He grabbed his tablet and started to walk towards the door.

'Couldn't you guys just have one week off?' he asked in exasperation, speaking to no-one in particular, already setting off for Weirs office.

SGASGASGA

The first sense that came back to Ronon was his hearing. An uncomfortable hum buzzed in his ears and the sounds of peoples voices came and went, but distorted, like listening to them from the bottom of a well. His thoughts slowly began to process the other stimuli assaulting his senses. His instincts kicked in, making him stay still as though still asleep as he tried to take stock of his surroundings. A dull ache throbbed through his whole body, centring on his neck and head. Confused as to why his body would hurt so much, he tried to open his eyes and moaned as bright light pierced his vision. He could just make out that the light was blue before a shadow crossed his line of sight.

'I'm afraid it is not time to get up yet, boy' stated a fuzzy voice that wasn't in time with the movement of lips in front of him.

_Boy?_ Ronon's mind registered the insult, but before he could retaliate, sharp pain was felt in the side of his neck and oblivion took him once again.

SGASGASGA

Rodney stood in Weir's office pointing at the tablet on her desk. His mouth was tight as he waiting expectantly for the next question he had already answered to himself rolled from her lips.

'Ok, so they haven't malfunctioned, like you said, it's too much of a coincidence. Maybe they've just lost power? Although for them both to go at the same time...' she mused.

'No. The kinetic energy a body uses in daily life is enough to keep the thing going indefinitely' he explained, in his usual tone of annoyance when people went over things he'd already thought about.

Her smooth brow knitted in concern, and she seemed reluctant to ask the next question.

'Wraith?' She asked simply, not really wanting to hear the answer.

'Nope. Don't you think we'd already thought about that? The energy bolt from a Wraith stunner would normally be enough to disable most small electrical devices, erm... like a digital watch for example. But a while ago I managed to find a small bit of research in the Ancient database about negating the effects of energy bolts. And while it wasn't much use for something the size of a human, I was able to configure the technology for use on something small, like a tracing device.' He allowed himself a smug little smile, then continued on. 'They cannot be affected by EMP's, Nanites, fire, or Wraith stunner's. Seriously, did you not read the briefing before they put in your own chip?' he asked, impatient at having to explain himself.

'I spend all my days reading reports as it is Rodney, I don't have time to look up _every_ new technology you come up with' She explained, looking a little sheepish, not noticing Rodney's slight swell of his chest at the hidden compliment. He decided to continue.

'There is only a few ways to destroy the chips. One,' he ticked the number off on his finger. 'A heavy weight or blunt pressure from an explosion, but we asked Carson for an area on the body that was the least likely to receive damage and inserted the chips there' He raised a second finger. 'Or two, remove the chip and break it with force' Weir unconsciously rubbed the inside of her own arm in sympathy. Looking around the room, she pursed her lips in consternation, then nodded her head.

'I'll send an armed team down to the planet straight away to find out what has happened. I'm sure there is an easy way to explain all this' At this reply Rodney finally gave in and rolled his eyes.

'With those two? Are you kidding me? I can see it now, they're probably being eaten by cannibalistic natives as we speak, or blowing something up'.

Stepping out the door of the office, he walked across to the control room and settled himself down to await the findings of the away-team.


	3. Chapter 3

Ronon swallowed, his throat constricting painfully as he rode the wave of nausea rising from his stomach. Colours swirled behind his eyes but he felt light. Through the feeling of pain that seemed to be calling from every nerve in his body, he felt pressure on his wrists and ankles. He willed his limbs to pull away from the unwelcome discomfort, but this only succeeded in making the pressure tighter. Snatches of noise and what could have been voices reached his straining ears and although he opened his eyes he could only see darkness. A stronger ache in his neck suddenly took his full attention, but soon all the aches faded and sweet numbness claimed him for a third time.

SGASGASGA

Major Lorne's team had only been off-world for ten minutes before Rodney stood up and began to pace the room. _Three paces forward_ he counted, _three paces back_.

'Aren't you used to this by now?' asked a nearby young man, obviously annoyed by the distraction.

'What?' Rodney asked, irritated by the intrusion into his fretting and the comforting pacing he'd been indulging in.

'Well I mean, seriously, it seems almost every month your team gets in trouble, but they always come back right?' sneered the Technician.

'Oh yeah, sure, but will they come back in one piece?' countered Rodney. 'Anyway, how would you know? How long have you been here, what, three months?' he asked, noting the fresh look on his face and the brightness of his eyes.

The Technician lowered his gaze away from Rodney in embarrassment. 'One month' he admitted in a small voice.

'Huh, well try four years and lets see if you can hold onto _your_ fingernails when your team-mates disappear!' Rodney huffed, unbelieving that no-one else in the room seemed to have the same amount of concern.

'We have yet to find out whether they have even disappeared at all Rodney' came Teyla's voice from behind his left shoulder.

'Oh come on Teyla, it's those two, they're neck deep in danger already, I can smell it' Rodney answered her, inwardly pleased by her presence.

'It is true they have a penchant for walking into danger' Teyla agreed. 'But don't we all?' she sighed a little then, her concern showing as she scanned the closed gate as if it held answers.

'They have probably just..' she began, but Rodney wasn't looking at her any more. He had walked up to the shifts duty officer.

'_Excuse_ me' he started angrily 'but isn't it somebodies job here to keep an eye on the tracing system?' the officer looked down at Rodney and pursed his lips.

'Yup' he replied 'It's one of the Ops Assistants jobs, but Private Lewis is in the infirmary, some kind of food poisoning' noting the rising rage on the scientists face, he continued 'There was no one available at such short notice. I decided that seeing there was no away missions at present, I could leave that position empty until tomorrow when the next mission is due to start' he explained, shrugging.

Rodney was at a loss for words at what he saw as the man's incompetence. His mouth opened and closed like a fish gasping for air. Teyla came over and placed her hand on his arm. She had noticed one of the communications operators holding her earpiece to talk.

'Major Lorne's team reporting in sir' the officer stated. The duty officer nodded and sat back on a console awaiting the news.

'This is Major Lorne. We found the clearing where both Colonel Sheppard and Ronon were staying. All of their equipment is here, food, clothes, even half a bottle of some sort of liquor, but there was no sign of them. After skirting the area, Lieutenant Cadman found the earth was disturbed near a nearby hill. There we found a small pile of their weapons, and traces of blood. We also found two tracing chips close by, they appear to be destroyed'

_So, number two_ _then_ thought Rodney as a cold plummeting sensation fell in his stomach.

'There is no sign of a struggle, but it appears that whoever it was that took the Colonel and Ronon left by the gate' Lorne finished.

'Thank you Major' came Weirs voice from near the entrance door. 'Find out the last addresses dialled from the gate and head back'

'Confirmed. Major Lorne out'

'They can't have gone far' said Weir. 'It's only been about 2 hours since the chips went offline, isn't that right Rodney?'

'Hmmm...what? Oh right, um... more like four actually' at Weir's questioning face he continued 'Unfortunately the signal from the devices is approximately two hours behind. You know with background radiation and electromagnetic interference...'he stopped when he noticed both Teyla and Weir looked impatient 'four hours' he agreed.

'As soon as they get back from P45-678 they are to go directly to the next planet registered in the gate'.

Rodney began pacing again, trying to burn off some of his ever present nervous energy.

'And from now on it is vital that someone is available at_ all_ times to monitor the tracing chips, is that clear Lieutenant?'

'Yes Ma'am' answered the duty officer suitably abashed.

SGASGASGA

When Sheppard finally opened his eyes, he wished he hadn't. Golden light burned his retinas and swelled the ache in his head. Biting back queasiness, he let his eyes adjust to the piercing brightness.

'You awake?' came a familiar voice. _Ronon's_.

'Yeah' he answered, slurring slightly and feeling his eyelids disobediently closing again 'But I feel like I've got one hell of a hangover' he heard a quick amused snort as a reply. His memory suddenly cleared in front of him, reminding him of the ambush, the group of soldiers, and the destruction of the tracing chips. He groaned at that particular memory.

'You ok?' asked Ronon, mistaking his groan for one of pain. Sheppard did a quick mental stock check. No one part of his body seemed to hurt any more than the others, and apart from an impressive headache and his tongue sticking dryly to the roof of his mouth, he seemed in one piece.

'Seems so. You?' he asked.

'I'm fine now' came the sheepish reply. Sheppard tried opening his eyes again and found it was becoming easier. He took in the room they were sitting in. He was unsurprised when he noticed the stark rough stone walls, the barred high window and a barred door on his right. _Great_ he thought _yet another prison cell._

Looking on his left he saw Ronon sat up against the corner with his arms resting lazily on his knees. He rubbed his neck at the entry point of the sedative and quirked a small smile.

'Must have been quite a drug to knock _you_ out cold' He dug at Ronon.

'I woke up a few times' explained Ronon 'But once they realised I was awake, they just gave me more and the next thing I know...'

'Nighty-night, Ronon' Sheppard finished for him. Taking another look around, he spied a water jug on the floor next to Ronon and he lunged towards it and took a long pull of the tepid, metallic tasting water. As he wiped his mouth and took a deep breath, he noticed a sickly, cloying aroma that seemed to pervade the chill air of the cell.

'What's that smell?' he questioned pulling a face.

'Threw up' Ronon shrugged, looking a little embarrassed. Sheppard mentally calculated his drug induced hangover by three and nodded to himself.

'I'm not surprised' he muttered, attempting to make Ronon feel better. He knew full well that the Satedan's large frame took a lot of taking down, which was admirable, but right now he didn't envy him taking three hits of the strong sedative.

'So' he started, wanting to gather as much information as he could 'Do you remember anything between that hill and getting here?'

'Not much' Ronon admitted 'The first time I saw blue light. I think the blindfold had slipped. After that time, I didn't see anything until I woke up here. I've tested the cell for possible escape routes while you were under, but the metal bars in the window are set into the stone, the floor is solid, and the door is metal too.'

'Seen anyone?' Sheppard continued.

'No' was Ronon's reply.

'You're not painting me a pretty picture here Ronon' he said, irritated at the lack of options open to him. He settled back against the wall, wracking his brains for a possible solution to the admittedly dire situation they had found themselves in.

'I guess we sit here and wait then, lets see what our _hosts_ have to say' he suggested, reasoning that the only action that could be taken at the moment was none.

'Right' mumbled Ronon, seemingly annoyed by the idea of more sitting around.

It couldn't have been more than half an hour of sullen silence before they heard the first signs of activity coming from outside their cell. The sound of heavy boots rang out from the corridor, and before long a large group of guards arrived, along with the smiling face of the person they had been waiting to see. Standing up, they watched the Inquisitors face peer between the bars of the door.

'Ah, gentlemen, you are awake I see' he stated brightly 'I believe it is time we had a little meeting, there is much I wish to discuss with you'

'About time' answered Sheppard sarcastically as a guard opened the heavy lock. Sheppard counted ten guards crowded into the tight hallway beyond, all with their weapons trained steadily on the two men. He decided that now was not the time for attempted escape and motioned behind his back for Ronon to follow his lead. As they walked into the corridor, their hands were bound once again. Annoyed that these people seemed to be taking no chances with them, they could only follow the infuriating Rashnan to wherever he wished.


	4. Chapter 4

The large stone table glistened in the overhead lights, and Sheppard was surprised when both he and Ronon were offered seats. Rashnan himself stood at the head of the table, waiting for them to make themselves comfortable.

'First things first gentlemen.' He began. 'I have already introduced myself have I not?' Sheppard nodded. 'Then let me welcome you to my home world. Welcome to Nearea my friends' he spread his hands wide in an open gesture.

'This doesn't look too friendly to me' countered Ronon, making a gesture with his bound hands that suggested being tied up and having ten guns still pointed directly at them was not his idea of friendly.

'Ah well, your reputation precedes you' He walked forward and took a seat at the head of the table, resting his hands on the polished granite. 'I wouldn't have liked to go through all the effort it took to get you here, only for you run away from me'

'If you know of our, _reputation'_ said Sheppard _'_you would also know that there will be a lot of very angry people looking for us right now, and seeing as you are such a good _friend_' Sheppard twisted the word in mouth, making it sound more like _enemy_. 'I wouldn't want you to get hurt now would I?' Rashnan chuckled then, a merry sound at odds with his grizzly countenance.

'I would just like to assure you that there will be little chance of rescue. Whilst doing my research, I came by a snippet of intelligence about Lanteans having a device implanted into the skin that gave away their location to their team-mates, and as you will remember, I had them destroyed. Just to make sure, we came through no less than forty-three gates on our way here, doubling back and also leaving a few of my men behind on each planet to dial a few more addresses, just to confuse things.' He smiled at his own cleverness, breathing deeply 'It would take weeks to discover the actual gate address of Nearea, and by then I'm sorry to say you may well have come to the end of your usefulness' he pouted his mouth in a mocking sad face.

'As much as I love your company Mr Rashnan, High whatever' snapped Sheppard 'Can't we just cut all this friendly bull-crap and get to the point?'

'All right' agreed Rashnan, dropping the ever-present smile. He waved his hand at two guards, who immediately picked up and deposited a large metal crate on the table top. Sheppard's forehead crinkled in concern when he noticed the item was an ammunitions box.

'You recognise it?' asked Rashnan, a small smile reappearing on his face. 'We found twenty more of these. They seemed to be just lying around on an abandoned planet, just waiting for us to take them to their new home'

Sheppard's jaw tightened as he saw the way this conversation was headed.

'The easy part was getting the containers to Nearea, getting inside them, however, deemed a little more puzzling. They appear to be made of some highly indestructible alloy, so when trying to cut our way in failed to yield results, we looked at the lock for a more sensible way in' Rashnan stood up and stalked towards Sheppard. 'It appears there is some sort of magnetic lock on the side here, and if I wasn't mistaken, I'd say it took a specific code to get into one of these'

'Possibly' admitted Sheppard, as there was no harm in stating the obvious. He began to think. _What could be in these boxes? Weapons, grenades, C4, maybe even a small nuclear device or two... various ancient items.. who knows? _He tried to weigh up the dangers of these people having access to this equipment. From what he'd seen so far, they didn't seem like a particularly peace loving people. _Who advertises for a job position like 'High Inquisitor' anyway? _He decided to get more information before making his decision.

'Why do you need this stuff?' he asked.

Rashnan shrugged his shoulders eloquently. 'For the same reason you had them in the first place, to go against the Wraith of course' he leant back in his chair seemingly more relaxed all of a sudden.

Sheppard thought about that statement, it just didn't seem to ring true.

'Then why the threats?' He asked simply.

A flicker of annoyance passed across Rashnan's face, it seemed he'd forgotten about saying that. Sheppard had a feeling that this man would get no prizes for being a negotiator. Why bring them here and go through all the effort of making rescue unlikely if it was just a few crates of weapons they wanted unlocking? If Sheppard had thought they would be set free he would've give them the codes. They could always have come back with more force and retrieved the more dangerous of the equipment.

'Just give me the codes' said Rashnan coldly, all remnants of warmth dropping from his façade. Sheppard looked sideways questioningly at Ronon, who merely gave him a 'you're the boss, don't ask me' look before taking his gaze back to the guard opposite him. Sheppard noticed that the gun in the guard's arms was shaking slightly, the guard himself quailing under Ronon's glare. He smirked a little at that.

'So, you want me to give you the codes, so that you can help yourselves to whatever goodies are in there, and use them to fight the Wraith' He stated. 'Sounds perfectly reasonable to me. But, you see there is just one problem with that,' he continued 'and -call me paranoid- but, I'm afraid I just don't trust you'

Rashnan took a step back, 'I was hoping I could at least get the codes before getting the rest of the information from you, but it seems we'll just have to start early' Rashnan stroked his hand across his jaw, apparently lost in thought, looking Sheppard up and down. 'Are you sure you can't be persuaded?'

'I'm going to go for a no on that one' Answered Sheppard flippantly, he was definitely sure he had made the right decision now as Rashnan's last statement of 'rest of the information' was setting off alarm bells in his head.

'Then I think it is time we got better acquainted Colonel' Rashnan told Sheppard, a dangerous edge appearing in his voice.' I have no use for Ronon Dex at the moment, take him back to their cell' he ordered half of the guards. Sheppard watched as Ronon put up an obligatory struggle, even though they both knew it would do neither of them any good.

'I'm sure I'd love to have a little chat' drawled Sheppard with much more bravado than he was feeling. He started at the sound of Ronon's voice echoing down the hall way.

'You hurt him, I'll kill--' his shout was ended abruptly, accompanied by the unmistakable sound of a fist meeting flesh. Sheppard tilted his head up at Rashnan, his mouth tightening in anger.

'Still friends are we?' he asked.

'No, Colonel' he answered, moving towards the door. 'I understand it is too late for that now.' He gestured to the remaining guards. 'Bring him to room four'

Sheppard mastered his face to stillness as he walked past Rashnan, managing to school it into a look of ambivalence. His heart was beating wildly in his chest, _Don't people ever get sick of hurting me?_ He asked himself in frustration. The only answer was the march of boots on stone as the strange procession made their way through the strongholds passageways.


	5. Chapter 5

**Soo... I'd just like to thank those of you who have reviewed my fic, and everyone who has bookmarked and subscribed to this story, it really keeps me going when I get stuck on what to do next.**

Chapter 5

Sheppard watched Rashnan as his arms were bound expertly to the chair he'd been dumped in. His features were hard to read, but there was no trace of the earlier practised good humour. Tying off the last knot with a flourish the inquisitor reached over to a nearby table and picked up a pair of leather gloves.

'For my protection' Rashnan explained seeing Sheppard's gaze.

'After a while, it really begins to hurt your hands' he continued, pulling each one on in a business like fashion.

'My heart bleeds for you' snapped Sheppard, wondering how often this guy beat people up.

'I shall tell you a story, John Sheppard' Rashnan began 'but not the whole story, of course. I may not be good at coercing people through speaking alone, but I am not a stupid man'

The words escaped Sheppard's lips before he'd really thought it through – 'You could've fooled me' Rashnan surprised him when a flash of anger skewed his features and he dealt a heavy blow to the side of his face. Sheppard's head snapped sideways with the impact. Ears ringing, he wondered whether goading this man was a good idea. He needed to know what this man had taken them for, why they were here and if he kept interrupting, it wasn't going to get either of them very far. Fighting down his natural instinct of wise-cracking when he was nervous, he kept quiet when Rashnan next spoke.

'May I continue?' the silence answered his question for him.

'As I said, I shall tell you a story. You are quite right, we don't just require the ammunition you so gracefully left for us, but it would be a great asset, especially considering our long term goals' he paused then, apparently deciding how much to reveal. 'About five months ago, we received a delegation from another race we have had certain bad experiences of in the past. They explained to us they were having difficulties with some newcomers, who had taken up residence in the Ancient's old city of Atlantis. I would normally rejoice at such news, as there is little love lost between their civilisation and ours. However, the terms they offered us were quite excellent, but they asked for much in return. I'm unsure whether it was our superior technology in relation to the rest of the worlds around us, or just luck, but we agreed that for the moment, we would ally. I'm sure you can begin to see where this is going...?' Rashnan leant forwards and gripped Sheppard's hair painfully close to his scalp. 'Our allies want Atlantis, they want it destroyed. They have been unable to do it themselves. They hoped that our special forces, who are greatly skilled in subterfuge may be able to help where they had previously failed. Unfortunately your security and abundance of stolen Ancient technology made this impossible. They tried, again and again to gain your peoples trust, to be in a position where they may be able to sabotage your systems or find some way to compromise your city allowing our allies to gain entrance, but again and again they were turned away.' He moved closer to Sheppard, one hand still in his hair. Sheppard could see the man's face looming in front of him, noticing a glassy look hinting at madness residing there.

'Our 'contract' if you will, was for six months. My leaders were so sure that in six months we would have Atlantis begging on it's knees for our allies. When they realised that our special forces had failed, they chose me, to look for another way in.' Rashnan shook Sheppard's head by the hair 'And I found you! Where they thought I would fail them, I have not! You are here, and you will tell me the codes, how to get to Atlantis, and how to lower the shields, everything! He was shouting now, a hint of desperation in his voice. 'because if you do not, we will _all_ die here, every, last, one of us!' During his outburst, he released Sheppard's hair, flinging his head away from him. Rashnan stalked away from the chair seemingly schooling himself to calmness once more.

In the following silence, Sheppard thought hard about his position. Knowing the real truth now didn't really change anything. Giving away information on Atlantis was out of the question, but giving false information may prove to be too dangerous, especially if he interrogated Ronon too and they didn't get their stories straight. Rashnan wouldn't fall for any of it, he reasoned, he may be misguided, yes, but he wasn't a fool. Besides, Rashnan had already as good as told him they were dead anyway, whether or not they gave in to his demands. Weary resignation flooded through his system as he realised that the only thing to be done was to keep silent, and give nothing away, no matter what it cost them.

By the time Sheppard had made his decision, Rashnan had reappeared in front of him.

'What shall it be Colonel?' he asked, as though he actually hoped that this could still be over easily.

'I think I'm going to go with the not-betraying-my-people-option, if it's all the same to you' Sheppard sneered.

'I shouldn't be surprised should I? All you hero-types are the same' Rashnan moved into a steady position in front of Sheppard's chair. 'but you all bleed like the rest of us normal human beings, and trust me, you will' The Inquisitor immediately made good his threat, sending five punches in quick succession to both Sheppard's head and chest.

'You. Will. Tell me.' he growled as he continued the beating, punctuating each word with a punch to the gut.

'Don't...think...so...' Sheppard gasped, finding it hard to breath when he'd just had the wind knocked out of him.

'Of course you will' countered Rashnan 'I have all day'. Sheppard looked up just in time to see a leather shielded fist speed towards him before his vision blanked with the impact.

SGASGASGA

Ten minutes went on for what felt like two hours as Ronon paced the small cell, shoulders hunched as he let his anger and frustration slowly rise. All he could think of was the fact that Sheppard was probably being tortured right now, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He grabbed the bars of the door, and used all his strength to try and shake the door loose. He knew it was pretty pointless, but his anger had built up to a peak and he could only get rid of it by doing something, anything, to take his mind off his frustration. The door rattled, but didn't give way. Still holding on, he put his head down and took some deep breaths, trying unsuccessfully to calm himself.

'Quiet down' came an unfamiliar voice, a guard had obviously come running at the commotion. Ronon simply moved his head up to glare at the guard in a way that suggested that guard would be the one to die first when he got of there.

'Let me out now, and maybe I won't kill you' he lied. The guard ignored him and in one swift movement smacked the length of his rifle against Ronon's exposed knuckles.

'I said quiet' he repeated. Jerking away in surprise, Ronon pulled his now aching hands towards him, shaking away the stinging pain that blossomed there. Dropping himself down in a corner, he gave the retreating guard one last murderous glance before putting his head on his arms. He consigned himself to the fact that he could only wait until his friend came back, and maybe he could help then.


	6. Chapter 6

**I'd just like to thank you again for reading, and for the reviews, keep 'em coming!**

Chapter 6

Rodney sighed as his earpiece beeped loudly in his ear, interrupting his current train of thought.

'What now?' he sighed to himself pressing the piece to talk.

'Yes? I'm a little busy at the moment' he grouched at whoever it was trying to speak to him.

'Rodney' came the tinny voice of Dr Weir, instantly making him wonder if they had found them yet.

'Yes? Have you found them?' he questioned, for what felt like the millionth time.

'I'm afraid not, no. Not yet anyway.' she assured him hopefully, although even she must admit that the positivity was beginning to wear a little thin. 'Rodney, I just wanted to know if you had had any progress?'

'For crying out loud Elizabeth! Don't you think I would have told you as soon as I knew anything?' It came out a lot harsher than he intended, he knew she was only asking because she was a worried as he was.

'I'm... sorry... Let me start again. So far I have received the last ten gate addresses from the original gate. All those lead to more gated worlds and so on and so forth. Ten times ten, times ten, we could be searching for weeks!'

'I know that Rodney, tell me what I don't know. Is there anyway of narrowing our search?'

'Don't you think that that is exactly what I'm doing right now?' Rodney managed to keep his voice softer this time even with his irritation.

'I've already sent the next ten most likely planets for the away teams to begin searching out of the hundreds of possibilities, inhabited planets, planets with atmospheres most suited for life, that kind of thing.'

'Good, maybe some of the people on the inhabited planets could have seen someone, or something' Weir answered. 'I'll get the next shift onto it right away' she finished.

Whilst Rodney could tell she was still connected, there was a moment of silence before she added, very quietly 'I'm glad it's quiet at the moment, I'm not sure anyone higher up would like the amount of resources I'm pooling into this mission.' He understood what she meant. If they'd had any visiting command-types on Atlantis, this search would have been called off hours ago. Struggling with his inner pessimist, he thought he would try a bit of positivity himself.

'I'm sure we'll find them' he said awkwardly before ending the conversation.

SGASGASGA

'I like my job' Rashnan stated conversationally. 'I like seeing how long people last, it's not always the strong ones that hold out the longest you know, but I must admit' He leant in towards Sheppard's ear 'I'm rather looking forward to meeting your cell-mate, he'll probably last weeks' Sheppard managed to pull his head up at the threat.

'Well' he panted, slurring slightly, 'you haven't finished with me yet have you?'

'Your quite right' Rashnan answered, breathing in deeply through his nose. 'But I tire of this for now, how about we re-convene tomorrow morning? We both need some much earned rest'.

Sheppard couldn't disagree with the man on that note. He ached from head to waist, Rashnan had been quite thorough in ensuring no one place had taken any more than it's fair share of the blows. He opened eyes he didn't realised were closed to find his bindings had already been removed. _That was fast_ he thought slowly, managing to stagger upright with the help of two ever-present guards at his elbows. He blinked, trying to shake his head free of the darkness that held his mind, only to find Ronon's concerned face in front of him for one long second before a flash of grey-green came up to meet him.

Ronon managed to catch the falling man before he dove head first into the stone floor.

'Easy' he grunted, pulling him towards the back wall of the cell. As Sheppard faded in and out of consciousness, he managed to clean his wounds and assess for serious damage. Sheppard stirred at Ronon's touch, gasping when hands were placed on his ribs, pushing down gently.

'Ow' grumbled Sheppard reproachfully, the sharp pain bringing him fully awake.

'Sorry' muttered Ronon 'Nothing broken. Maybe cracked, but...' he trailed off uncertainly, knowing that any more abuse like this _would_ mean broken bones.

'I've had worse from you in training' smiled Sheppard, attempting to lighten the mood. Ronon shot him a hard look that said _yeah right_.

It annoyed him when Sheppard acted like this, but sighed inwardly as he knew he could be just as difficult.

'Do you know anything more about the situation?' he asked, trying to keep Sheppard's mind occupied and awake.

'Yes' Sheppard answered tersely, the reluctance in his voice telling Ronon he wasn't going to like what he heard next.

Both their faces grew graver as between them they speculated on their position. No further decisions than the one Sheppard had already made seemed to reveal themselves, and before long, Sheppard had fallen asleep, his head lolling sideways onto Ronon's arm. Although feeling a little uncomfortable at the close contact, Ronon decided that it would be better for Sheppard to rest his injured head there rather than on the cold floor. Taking a last look at Sheppard's battered visage, he rested his head back in the hope that he might sleep too. In the last moment before his dreams took him, he made a vow to himself. Rashnan would die like all of his victims before him. Screaming.


	7. Chapter 7

**Authors note – To make up for the length of time it's took me to get this chapter up, I've done two in one day. Also, it's starts to get a little darker from here on out. So if you don't like whump/hurt, look away now!**

**PS – Reviews are awesome :-)**

Chapter 7

Rashnan smiled as he saw the two men dispiritedly hunched on the cell floor. They both looked up as they heard him approach. The colonel looked wary, the taller man angry. Then again, some variation of that same expression had been on the Satedan's face since he'd brought him here. He saw that they were sat shoulder to shoulder, the larger man supporting the damaged Colonel, there was definitely some sort of comradeship there, more than just team-mates and he congratulated himself once again for coming up with his new plan.

Ronon stood up swiftly, placing himself between Sheppard and the man who had caused his injuries.

'Stay away from him' he growled, bracing himself.

'Don't worry about that,' Rashnan began 'I've finished with him for the moment, in a way' He peered around Ronon to where Sheppard was now stood, swaying gently, at his left shoulder.

'You don't want Ronon, he's not from earth, he doesn't have access to information like that' Sheppard spluttered, hoping the truth would stop them from taking Ronon, anything to stop them making him go through what he already had done.

'I know that' he replied, a small smile quirking his lips. 'But_ you _do. Maybe the easiest way to get to you isn't to hurt you, but to hurt someone close to you' He watched, waiting to see what sort of reaction his statement would produce, he was not disappointed.

'Hold on, hold on, there is no need for that!' Shouted Sheppard, his voice belaying his panic. The door was opened and two guards immediately came forward and began to man-handle Ronon towards the hallway.

'Then you will help us?' Rashnan looked hopefully at Sheppard. Sheppard looked over to where Ronon was struggling against his two guards, unbelieving of the decision they were asking him to make. Ronon stopped moving to look at Sheppard and nodded his head, almost imperceptibly. Silence rained as Sheppard gathered all his strength and said one word, ripped from him against his will. 'No'

The guards instantly started dragging Ronon away and once he was out of the cell two more guards came in and hauled Sheppard up by his arms and began tying his hands together at the wrist behind his back.

Rashnan smiled at him, looking like he was almost enjoying the anguish that was about to come.

'Come John, you can watch.'

SGASGASGA

The room was dark, the only light coming from two grates, one in the wall and one on the ceiling, through the bars of which his bindings were attached. He could see nothing outside the ring of light which encircled him. Anger roiled through him at the thought of being strung up and helpless like this, his breathing quickened with his rage and when a guard came to his feet to tie them down also, he didn't miss the opportunity. He lifted the man's head back effortlessly with his knee and kicked him hard on the chest, sending the unfortunate man sprawling. With his arms above his head limiting the movement of his neck, he didn't see the guard come from behind and strike him . White dots appeared in front of his face and his thinking was fuzzy. He heard a few sounds that could have been people talking, but the splitting ache from his crown was impeding his rationality. As his head slowly cleared he began to be able to see normally again and looked down to see his feet had been tied down successfully whilst he was incapacitated. Each foot was manacled to a ring set in the floor, and the short length of chain didn't allow him to move his feet more than a few inches. After a few futile attempts at struggling, he tried to put his feet into a comfortable position and pulled himself up to his full height, hoping that a look of defiance and strength was coming off him, rather than the small but nagging feeling of fear in the back of his mind. He knew he hadn't been able to stop it from happening to John, so he couldn't stop it happening to him either. _Just take it_, he thought, _if you let John know this hurts you he may feel so bad that he gives in. You can't let that __happen._

The slow click of hobnailed boots made their way across the stone floor.

'Take off his shirt' came the command from Rashnan, as he saw the indistinct shape now move into the light. Ronon glared at him in the way only he could, hoping that the hate in eyes could kill him through mind power alone. Guards on either side came up to him and began to remove his shirt with short knives. The cold air of the room caressed the sweat that was now forming on his skin.

'You're a strong man, Ronon Dex, but lets see for how much longer' said a disembodied voice. Ronon smiled to himself at the cliché when without warning, blows seemed to rain down on him from all directions. A fist on his jaw, a foot in his ribs, he lost count as he forced down his trained urge to fight back that was useless to him now, restrained as he was. It stopped. His ears rang as his beaten body burned. He struggled for breath and rested his head on on his chest.

'How about now, John Sheppard?' Ronon shook the fog from his head and looked around the room, _They were making Sheppard watch?_

A small voice from in front of him said 'No'

Collecting the blood from his bleeding tongue in his mouth, he spat it on the floor. 'Atta boy Sheppard' he rasped.

SGASGASGA

Looking up at his friend, he saw bruises already forming. Various cuts were dripping blood down his face and chest and he winced as he spied a foot print shaped bruise on the side of his chest denoting probably cracked ribs. He'd known that Ronon's earlier nod of his head had meant that it was ok, that Ronon was willing to go through this for the rest of their people back on Atlantis. It didn't make the fact that it was his decision to deny them what they wanted, and it was a decision he couldn't, wouldn't change, no matter what.


	8. Chapter 8

**Authors notes - A second chapter in one night, as promised!**

Chapter 8

The weight of Ronon's body pulled at his shoulders and wrists. He listened for signs of movement and realised all he could hear was his own ragged breathing. The background ache from his head mixed in with the disconcerting darkness and light of the room made it difficult to see what was happening now. As he blinked back sweat and blood from his eyes, he thought he could see an indistinct white face with dark hair sitting about three metres in front of him, but he couldn't be sure it was Sheppard. _It's ok Sheppard, just let it happen, don't worry about me.._. A sudden cold pressure came into contact with his right arm, just above his shoulder. He felt it biting into his skin and he held back a gasp as the assailant pulled it deeper and harder into his arm. He was left with a burning sensation and he could feel his warm blood running out of the wound and down his arm. Pressure came onto his chest next, he was certain they were pressing the knife harder this time, they wanted him to cry out, make it so that Sheppard would cave in. Just as this thought came into his mind, a deep groan threatened to escape his lips. He rammed his lips together in the vain hope that he could keep quiet, save Sheppard the misguided guilt he knew this would cause him. They were getting quicker now, Pressure, bite, burn, pressure, bite, burn. He lost track of how many times they cut him. He wasn't even sure when they'd stopped. The expanse of his naked flesh, torso and arms, burned and stung and he thought he heard someone moaning. He realised it was him. _Damn_. He tried to push himself up onto his feet when he noticed that he couldn't, he didn't quite have the strength. He flopped back down, his feet trailing on the floor, and he couldn't help but hope in his pain addled mind that it was over.

SGASGASGA

He watched as they took off Ronon's bindings, and his heart beat faster as he noticed he wasn't moving anymore. The other guards came closer, no longer afraid of the tall Satedan and they took him, one under each arm as he collapsed with no resistance. One guard he recognised as the man Ronon had kicked earlier came up in front of Ronon and pulled his knee back and thrust it into his groin in revenge. Ronon's neck muscles bunched up at the surprise attack and he gasped for air through his swollen mouth. His eyelids fluttered and then closed as the last offering of pain put him into unconsciousness.

SGASGASGA

They had already dropped Ronon's inert body on the floor when they took off Sheppard bindings and pushed him in afterwards. As the heavy iron door swung shut with a click behind him, he scrambled towards Ronon. He gently eased the man's body so he was facing the ceiling and finally looked over to see what damage had been done.

Blood. There was too much blood. He couldn't see exactly where the main damage was done. His mind was numb after what he'd just witnessed but a thought came to him. _Clean, the wounds should be cleaned_. He reached over for the half empty water jug and poured some into a bowl that had come with some sort of soup in it this morning. He ripped off some of the thin material that passed for a blanket and dipped it into the water. He started with his face, slowly wiping away the mixture of blood and sweat from the split brow, moving down to what looked like a broken nose and the rivulets of blood that came from his lips.

He moved down to his shoulders and wiped off all the blood he could find on Ronon's chest and arms and before long he was left with a pile of red rags and the image of dark red gashes on skin that was a lot paler than it should have been. _God, Ronon, how could they do this?_. He had to admit, the Nereans had worked him out well. They knew he would let himself die through torture in their hands before they would get information from him, but to threaten one of his team mates, his friend, was more than he could bear. He let out a strangled shout of frustration and anger at the people who would go to such lengths to get what they wanted. His hands balled into fists as he fought to keep the image, the memories of all those lives on Atlantis, the men and women who would die if he gave in. But he could only see his friend, torn and grey on the floor of a dirty cell, waiting overnight for the next day which would bring him back to the same room and to more brutality. Sheppard scrunched up his eyes and frustrated tears almost leaked out of the corners when he heard a gurgle come from Ronon. It turned into a wet sounding splutter and John cursed as he realised Ronon's swollen tongue might be causing him breathing difficulties. He pulled Ronon's body sideways and positioned his head on his own knee to elevate his head, and after a few more wracking coughs, he was still once more. John gingerly moved back a few blood spattered dreadlocks from Ronon's cheek and felt his heart wrench as he realised how young Ronon looked, how young he actually was. His life hadn't been kind to him so far and the strain of holding back his emotions so that he could be cool and calculating in his years as a runner showed in the tightness around his eyes when he was awake. He'd almost forgotten Ronon was over ten years younger than he, and in his unconscious state, he looked almost vulnerable.

'If you kiss my head, I think I'm gonna throw up' came a small voice, tight with pain and thick with talking around an injured tongue.

'Ronon! Your awake! Yeah good..erm I was just raising your head so you didn't choke' Sheppard moved out of the way as Ronon carefully sat himself up with his back against the wall resting his arms limply by his sides.

'You ok Sheppard?' Ronon asked swinging his gaze erratically over to his team-mate.

'Am I ok!?, am I ok!? Of course I'm ok Ronon, It's me who should be asking you that question!' Sheppard spluttered.

'I'm fine' mumbled Ronon automatically, not meeting Sheppard's eyes.

'No, your not, your a mess, crap, I mean...' Sheppard stumbled through his words as he realised nothing he could say would be of much help.

Ronon's gaze was unfocused as he looked back over to his team-mate. 'Your not ok,' he stated bluntly. 'This' he nodded at the cell to show he meant their situation 'is not ok' Sheppard was silent as Ronon seemed to be finding the words to say something more.

Ronon laid his head back onto the wall, his breathing heavy as he tried to concentrate on speaking to Sheppard 'Don't think about it' He reached his hand up to rub idly at his bleeding lip and saw that his hand was shaking. He looked surreptitiously over at Sheppard in the hope that he hadn't seen it.

'I know, I know buddy' Sheppard replied tonelessly not looking him in the eyes. Ronon leaned forwards towards him, this small change in position causing his breath to hitch and he hissed between his teeth as the lacerations on his arms twisted with movement. 'Atlantis' he breathed, finally. 'Not me...Atlantis' He made sure he found Sheppard's eyes to lock onto as he said those last words. He searched the depths of his friends eyes and satisfied that he hadn't changed his mind, nodded, rolled over jerkily and instantly fell asleep.

Sheppard saw the big man's chest rise and fall in small shallow breaths, occasionally he'd try to take a deeper breath but the tightness around his eyes showed that this caused him more pain. As much as Ronon tried to hide it, Sheppard had seen Ronon's hands shaking whenever he moved them, he thought back to his rudimentary military medical training. _Probably shock, or blood loss, or both_ he mused, _he can still talk coherently, he should be ok._ He closed his eyes. _Until tomorrow_.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey, sorry it has been forever since I've updated this story, and kind of left a few folks hanging. Well I had a massive upheaval in my personal life (left ex, moved house, yada yada) so it has taken me four months to get back on track. I'm afraid I've only got a small taster of the next chapter, but I thought I'd at least let you know I was still alive!**

**Chapter 9**

The sun had almost reached it's zenith by the time the guard changed. Sheppard had long grown tired of waiting, sat at the back of cell. He hadn't slept much all night, knowing what was to come today, but he'd insisted Ronon lay down and at least rest to preserve his strength. As he listened to the unlocking of doors and boots tramping through the hallways, he looked over at Ronon who was now sat against the wall, head lolling onto his chest. _I hope your ready, big guy_, Sheppard prayed silently._ I sure as hell aren't_.

As the new guard appeared in front of the door, Sheppard noted with pleasure the surly expression on his face. As the guard turned on his heel to move over to his station, Sheppard spoke.

'Hey, you!' The guard looked round, a flash of anger on his face at being addressed so.

'Can you get us some more water? Oh, and maybe some lunch I'm hungry…'

'You'll get what your given,' stated the guard, 'do I look like your mother?'

'Well actually, now that you mention it, my mom was quite big around the stomach area too so I guess...' replied Sheppard.

'Enough!' shouted the guard, pressing his face up to the bars so that the prisoners could see he meant business, 'One more peep out of you and I'll come in there myself and deal with you!' In one fluid movement, Sheppard cleared the gap between himself and the guard, curled his hand into a ball and let his fist fly straight into the mans' nose. The sound of crunching bones was the only thing to be heard before the guard started cussing and incoherently shouting that they were dead. Sheppard smiled to himself at a job well done, if the guard was annoyed before, now he was _pissed. _Taking one hand away from his bloody face, the guard struggled with the keys as he tried to get the door open to attack his aggressor. When he finally succeeded in opening the lock he strode across the threshold and tripped. Turning round to see Ronon's legs flat against a floor that moments ago was clear, he never saw the water jug in Sheppard's hands come swinging to meet the back of his head.

SGASGASGASGA


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

After leaving the prison block, they moved swiftly through a maze of twisting and turning corridors. Faint bells rang in the background, telling them that someone had noticed their escape. Whilst they had yet to run into any guards, he couldn't help but grimace at the speed with which they were tiring. He knew the only things really keeping Ronon going was adrenaline and hope that they were going to escape. They had no idea where they were going and how, but just getting to somewhere relatively safe where they could rest would do for now. _We never really have plans_ anyway he mused, feeling a little better about the situation. Rounding the next corner, Ronon scouted it out with the stolen gun, stopping and motioning to Sheppard that they had company. 'How many?' he whispered, pushing himself flat against the wall just as Ronon had done. 'Three' came the reply. Both men began silently checking their borrowed weapons, Sheppard shaking his head when he saw that the rifle he'd picked up didn't have a visible magazine. Searching the surface of his gun, he couldn't see any discernable way of finding out how many bullets he had. 'You? Bullets?' he mouthed at Ronon. As the sound of footsteps getting closer, Ronon cautiously held out his hand to suggest the number five. At that moment, Sheppard realised that they were in all likelihood screwed. He'd seen the visible shake of his team-mates' hand, a sign that spoke to him, as he knew Ronon wouldn't. Looking at his face, his eyes were tight in unspoken pain and his sweaty face was definitely paler than it should have been, perhaps even a little green looking. Deep in concentration as he had been when they were running, he was annoyed that he'd only just noticed most of Ronon's wounds had pulled themselves open with the effort of escaping, and whilst they weren't bleeding freely it must have been hurting like hell. He pointed at Ronon to move out of the way and let him take the shots. Confused, Ronon began to shake his head, not understanding why he would want to waste time in moving around when he was already closer. Sheppard grabbed Ronon's free hand by the wrist and shoved it under his nose, where it shook, visualising the weakness he was trying to hide. Ronon simply glared at him in a way that suggested he knew Sheppard was right, but that he didn't like it. Moving into the free space Ronon vacated, Sheppard raised his rifle up in readiness to take down the enemy. Whirling around the corner in a move he'd made countless times before, two men were down before the third managed to turn around and raise his own weapon. With no time to waste, Sheppard took his aim, squeezing the trigger for a third time. Expecting a satisfying bang and for his opponent to drop, Sheppard felt a moment of dread when the only sound that reached his ears was the click of the trigger hitting thin air, followed by the guard cocking his own weapon.

SGASGASGASGA

Looking at the wilting greenery on his plate, Rodney silently wondered if he'd be able to skip his main course and just eat pudding without Carson noticing. As members of the team missed meals and got little sleep through worry, Carson was a giant hypocrite and rushed around fussing at everyone to eat and sleep whilst neglecting his own advice himself. 'Stupid Carson', he muttered, flinging a salad leaf down.

'What?' asked a familiar voice. Engrossed in his sorry excuse for a meal, Rodney didn't notice that Zelenka had joined him at the table. Fighting the last of his optimism, Rodney pushed away his plate and grabbed the tablet out of a surprised Zelenka's hands.

Unable to do anything more with computer programs and the ancient database than narrow it down to just shy of 150 possible planets, he, along with the rest of the team had taken it in turns to search with the away teams. In the last two days he'd been to 20 separate worlds himself, all of which had been either too hot, too cold or just plain dangerous. 'So? Progress?' he barked at Zelenka, rather than actually looking at the tablet.

'Well, erm…' he started. 'Yes?' barked Rodney impatiently. 'There are only about 60 planets left to search, Dr Weir says they have a few leads from locals saying they saw groups of armed men near their gates, arriving and then leaving, but they seemed reluctant to pass on any more information'. Sighing through his nose in frustration, Rodney tried not to think about the worlds they excluded from their search. 'So no then' he stated. 'We've had various locals saying that all along, but that doesn't help us!' Knowing that technology had gotten them as far as it could upset Rodney. Feeling helpless when being attached by Wraith or being captured and whatever was one thing, but being stuck on Atlantis with only man power being the thing that kept them from finding their team mates, this really annoyed him.

'No' said Zelenka, resignedly. 'But Dr Weir says she wants you to have another look at the Labs on Deck 6, We've had a team exploring down there ever since you opened it up, but there's no power down there, so they're just groping about in the…' Zelenka trailed off as he noticed that Rodney wasn't paying him attention anymore.

'Power…' said Rodney, his eyes taking on a hint of glassiness. 'No…it's too simple, but, well yeah… I can't believe I didn't think of it earlier. I mean there is no guarantee that they were the only large group of people to go through the gate at that time, but…'

'Rodney?' asked Zelenka, 'What is it?'

'Hmmm… they must have memory, how would they know what gate address is valid or not?' he rambled to himself.

'Rodney…' sighed Zelenka, used to Rodney ignoring him now.

'Well done, thanks Radek!' shouted Rodney unexpectedly, walking away from the table.

'Thank you… Rodney,' Replied Zelenka in stunned amazement 'Do you want me to' he began, but noticed that Rodney had already left the hall.


	11. Chapter 11

**Thanks again for the reviews and subscriptions, it really makes my day knowing that people have waited for the rest of this story, your interest means this story will get finished!**

Chapter 11

Time slowed down for Sheppard, whilst the hall seemed to become deathly quiet, he could still hear the faint ringing of the emergency alarm. Without even thinking about it he began to close his eyes, his body reacting to the moments terrifying thought that this was it. He heard the trigger click, and the sound of the bullet leaving the chamber. He had braced himself for the impact when the guard let out a shout, and in that instant he realised that the sound had come from_ behind_ him. His eyes snapped open to see the guard falling to the floor holding his shoulder. Whipping around, he spotted Ronon half standing, half leaning in the corridor wall behind him, his gun held between his trembling hands. A sense of relief washed over him as he gave Ronon a sheepish half-grin, Ronon answering it with his own, almost smug, smirk. They both knew that it had been a lucky shot, that Ronon had tried to make a kill, but Sheppard wasn't complaining.

Now they had a little more time, Sheppard walked back to Ronon and re-examined his weapon. Cursing silently, he found the reloading mechanism, a small plate of metal identical to the stock of the gun that, when moved upwards with his thumb, made a satisfying click that denoted the rifle was again ready to fire.

'Come on' he said to Ronon unnecessarily, and they walked over to where the guard was moaning, trying to staunch the flow of blood from his injured shoulder. Sheppard made short work of tying the mans hands and feet with his own uniforms belt and holster, finally using a piece of the mans shirt as a gag. On the cusp of turning the next corner he realised that the shots fired by them had alerted other guards nearby to their whereabouts.

'Crap' he muttered, pushing Ronon to turn round with him, almost making him fall to the floor. Going back the way they came, they went across a t-junction in the building. He knew guards were coming from behind, and to their left was just one long, twisting path back to the prison cells. The only option was to go right. In the moment it took him to realise that the reason they had not taken this route before was it ended only in a small door, Ronon had opened the door and collapsed inside it. Echoes of men shouting and running floated through the open doorway as they took up places on either side. The small cramped room made the sound of their exhausted panting loud in their ears, the smooth dark walls, devoid of an exit, taunted him with his choice. Sheppard nodded to Ronon, and they took it in turns to fire a couple of shots into their enemies, the sheer volume of guards crowding the corridor making even Ronons now poor aiming worth something. After a couple of turns it was apparent that this was getting them nowhere. Bullet holes from the returning fire scattered the back wall of the room, and they were down to their last few bullets.

'Ideas?' Sheppard asked Ronon, more flippantly than he felt. Before Ronon could answer however, the sound of gunfire ceased at a barked order from a familiar voice.

'Gentlemen' said the voice of Rashnan, his deep voice resonating in their makeshift hideout. Sheppard watched as Ronons expression turned from one of barely concealed pain to outright rage at the sound of his tormentors' voice. Before Sheppard could even utter a word, Ronon whirled around and emptied his last bullet at the location of the reason for his anger. Daring to peek around the doorframe to see, he caught Rashnan dodging to his right away from the haphazard fire, the man in front of him dropping like a stone as he caught the wayward bullet full in the chest. Returning fire instantly started up, causing them both to duck back into the safety of the room. Flinging his now empty gun away from him in frustration, Ronon closed his eyes at the sound of a ceasefire being called outside. Sheppard pressed the second handgun they had taken into Ronons hand, Ronon nodding his assent at the unspoken suggestion.

'Enough!' shouted Rashnan in the accompanying silence. 'You have nothing to gain here, do you here me?' Rashnan paused, seeming to rein in his anger. 'You are outnumbered and surrounded' he continued, 'if you want to live, lay down your weapons. If you want to die, then fine, so be it. One more shot from you is all it will take.'

The self satisfied tone of Rashnan as he said this did nothing to diffuse their anger, but Sheppard had to grudgingly agree with him. Taking a second to actually think their situation through, he weighed up the actions in front of them. They could either die here, or die later, his pessimistic side told him, but the small possibility of rescue floated unbidden to his mind and he decided it was worth a shot.

'Put it down' he told Ronon with resignation, placing his own rifle on the floor at the side of him.

'What?' countered Ronon shocked by Sheppards decision.

'I said, put it down' Sheppard repeated. 'Don't make me make that an order'. After another moments hesitation, Ronon growled but finally laid down his weapon.

Making sure only his hands were showing through the door, Sheppard pushed the weapons so that they slid along the corridor and it wasn't long before they were roughly hauled to their feet in front of Rashnan.

'You'll regret this day' Rashnan stated simply, looking at them both in the eye, in turn.

Sheppard couldn't help himself answering back 'I'm looking forward to it' but regretted it when the consequence was a swift punch to the face from a glowering Rashnan.


End file.
